Friday, 8 January 2010

Quotes of the Week

Kelvin MacKenzie on being interviewed by a psychologist as a potential Celebrity Big Brother inmate:"I was put in touch with a psychologist, Stephen Flett, who lives in Lincolnshire, where I imagine there is much need for his expertise. He carried out an interview by phone and suggested I sit in a room without any noticeable activity. I chose the office of the Daily Mirror Editor."

Guardian feature writer and columnist Tim Dowling choses as his "dream job" being a trainee on the Hackney Gazette because he had "sidled into journalism without really knowing what skills, qualifications or experience were required. By the time I realised just how underqualified I was, it was too late to give the money back. I have, however, always harboured dreams of having the benefit of training and a long apprenticeship."

NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear: "the prize for the crassest seasonal email goes to editor Keith Perch [Leicester Mercury]who managed to offend virtually the entire newsroom by lamenting the cuts and axing of around 50 journalists from the group's staff and ending with the following 'joke' - what's the definition of optimism? A regional newspaper journalist ironing five shirts on a Sunday."

Former Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves:"If there’s one group in the ‘regional press community’ that has done more than conservative management teams to hobble the industry, it’s the luddite, politically dominated, myopic, change-averse and frightened union (OK, I’ll say it – the NUJ."

Jim Boumelha, president of the International Federation of Journalists: "The devastating massacre of 31 journalists and media staff in the Philippines in November and fresh violence against colleagues in Mexico and Somalia have made this [2009] a year of terrible bloodshed for media."

About Me

I am a freelance journalist based in the UK and was deputy editor of Press Gazette, the journalists' magazine, from 1993 until 2006. I want to give an independent view on media matters.
You can contact me with stories, ideas and comments by email at jon.slattery369@btinternet.com You can also follow me on Twitter @jonslattery